RHEUMATIC HEART DISEASES

Objectives: To determine the frequency of rheumatic heart diseases in a hospital based study in Peshawar. Design: A cross sectional observational. Setting: Cardiology department, Lady-Reading Hospital Peshawar. Period: From July 2005 to July 2006. Method: Relevant in formations were recorded from patients and treatment chart of the patients, on a questionnaire designed in accordance with the objectives of the study. Results: A total of 88 patients with established diagnosis of rheumatic hear diseases (RHD) were randomly selected. Out of total 70.45% were females and 29.54% males, with males to females ratio of 1:2.38. The age range of the patients was from 8 years to 64 years with mean age of 47 years. The mode of age was 35 years. The frequency of rheumatic heart diseases was: Mitral Stenosis 13.63%, Mitral Regurgitation 60.22%, Mitral Stenosis /Mitral Regurgitation 21.59%, Aortic Stenosis/Aortic Regurgitation 2.27%, Aortic Stenosis 1.13% and Tricuspid Valve Stenosis 1.13%. We observed that RHD were more common in lower social class people (42.04%) with income less than 5000/month. Conclusion: In our setup RHD are more common in female gender and especially in the younger age. Mitral Stenosis was recorded as major type of RHD in our patients.